A Mountain to Climb
30 Aug 2018
For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated by electronic devices and their underlying mechanics. I wanted to have the ability to create innovative solutions to the problems around me. From my academic endeavors, I narrowed down the topic that interests me the most to Computer Science. I was enticed by the euphoria that I experienced from being able to create a functional algorithm from a purely theoretical concept that I learned about online. Of course, being a computer science major was far more challenging than I had anticipated; it was so much more than just simply coding. Throwing myself into a field like computer science meant more critical thinking, effective communication skills, problem solving, and a strong mentality. Despite all the obstables that I have encountered on this journey so far, I truly feel that it is something that I want to pursue and improve on.
Entering the Scary World
Jumping into this field without a solid understanding and background in computer science, I soon realized that I lacked a lot of skills that this discipline requires. For instance, I did not expect to face a tall mountain called discrete mathematics my first semester in college. Discrete mathematics, in my opinion, is a very intricate subject that demands great problem solving skills, critical thinking and time management (and possibly some quality time spent on contemplating life). Time management is especailly crucial, as the time is strictly limited and balancing multiple courses as well as working part-time can be extremely exhausting. Over time, I began developing these skills that were necessary to succeed in the course, but I know that I still have a lot of room for improvements (there is always room for improvements). In the future, I hope to strengthen my skills involving problem solving, critical thinking and time management to better my performance in academics so that it can assist me when I enter the “real world”.
What If…
Skills can be obtained and knowledge can be learned but there is no way or method that is defined for someone to have a strong mentality. Before I started college, I was quick to give up on things if they appeared intimidating, and I felt safe and comfortable in my own shell because striving for more scared me. Choosing to stay in Hawaii for college reflected me who I was as a person at the time (not that it’s a bad thing); all of my friends went away to explore new things and develop new perspectives on life. I had filled out all the applications for other colleges in the mainland but didn’t send them out because I was scared. What if things don’t go as planned? What if I don’t do well up there? What if I want to come home? What if I’m just wasting money and time? Being frightened about unpredictable future always led me to settle for less than what I was actually capable of doing. And to be honest, I still find myself questioning the things I’m doing and feeling like giving up at certain points, although going through college and being put under extreme pressure at times forced me to have stronger mentality. And like my father always says, you have to have a strong mentality to do anything in life, regardless of what you do. Aside from learning how to code and develop products that benefit others and learning other soft skills such as time management, having a strong mentality is one of my main goals in life. And I’m hoping that being in this competitive field of computer science will challange me mentally and force me to change the person I am to just throw myself out there and not be scared of what’s coming next.
The Future
It has not been that long since I started to devote my time into the world of programming and computer science, and I have seen many people my age and even younger develop bigger projects than I have ever done so far. Over the course of time and by taking many classes offered at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, I hope to be experienced enough to develop larger-scale software engineering projects that could help others. I want to be familiar with numerous programming languages and have concrete understanding of this field rather than just grasping on basic concepts to broaden my knowledge within this field. It may appear that there are a lot of things on my plate at the moment, but I strongly believe that being eager to fail and learn will eventually lead me to the place I want to be at.